Lace puller



P 1966 M. K. WALLACH 3,270,927

LACE FULLER Filed July 6, 1965 INVENTOR. W016? 11/411466 ATTORNEYSUnited States Patent 3,270,927 LACE PULLER Mark K. Wallach, GrandRapids, Mich., assignor to Wolverine Shoe & Tanning Corporation,Rockford, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Filed July 6, 1965, Ser. No.469,598 2 Claims. (Cl. 223113) This invention relates to sportsequipment, and more particularly to a lace puller for loosening andtightening laces of boot type footwear, particularly ski boots and iceskates.

The process of tightening boot laces to a snug condition is normallyachieved by pulling the laces several times with the hands as the bootsare laced up. Frequently. some persons have difiiculty pulling the lacestightly enough, particularly for ski boots and ice skates. The lacesalso tend to create sore spots around the base of the index fingers andaround the base of the little fingers, particularly after a weekend ofskiing.

Pulling wet, tight laces loose can be troublesome too. It is difficultto get a finger under the tight laces, for example, in order to get adecent grip on them.

It is an object of this invention to provide a simple, inexpensive, buteffective, one piece, metal stamping, lace puller enabling boot laces tobe readily pulled for tightening or loosening. The device can be carriedneatly in a pocket, or hung from part of the ski or skating outfit. Withthe device, the laces can be booked and pulled very snugly, while thepulling pressure is distributed over the pulling fingers, rather thanconcentrated in one spot on one or two fingers. The device is alsouseful for adjusting ski bindings.

These and other objects of this invention will become apparent uponstudying the following specification in conjunction with the drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the novel lace puller; and

FIG. 2 is an end elevational, fragmentary view of the device in FIG. 1,taken in the direction indicated by the arrow II in FIG. 1.

Referring now specifically to the drawings, the lace puller there showncomprises a metal stamping of about No. 14 stock steel (i.e. about 0.074inch in thickness). It has an elongated body portion 12 with a hooking,downwardly extending lace pulling tang 14 extending from one end. Thispulling tang has an orientation generally transverse to the maindimension of body 12, and extends below the lower edge portions of thebody in order to conveniently engage beneath a tight lace. Also alongthis lower side of the device, but on the opposite end from tang 14, isa pair of adjacent finger receiving concavities or grooves 16 and 18, toreceive a pair of fingers. Cooperative with these, but positioned on theupper edge of the device and closer to the end of the body containingtang 14, is a forwardly opening index finger receiving groove 20. Thisgroove or concavity is backed by an upwardly projecting protrusion 22causing the index finger receiving groove to be enclosed for about 180of its peripheral extent. This achieves an excellent grippingrelationship for the index finger, particularly when combined withfinger grooves 16 and 18 on the lower side of the device. Theconcavities on the opposite edges of the body enable the unit to beretained readily without slippage while force is applied axially alongthe long dimension of the lace puller.

The convexly curved nose 15 of the body adjacent pulling tang 14 enablesprying loose of laces also, by insertion of the tang under the laces andpushing on the Patented Sept. 6, 1966 device. It effects prying leverageby rolling the puller over this nose.

With this ski lace puller, ski laces can be pulled loose simply byengaging tang 14 beneath the laces and then with the fingers inposition, pried and/or pulled loose. Laces can likewise be pulled tightsimply by holding the loose ends of the laces with one hand engaging theski laces with tang l4, and pulling on the device. The pulling force isdistributed to the several fingers on the device. The upper edge portionof the device is generally convexly curved to fit smoothly in the palmof the person's hand.

As noted, the device can be carried in a pocket, or can be suspendedfrom any suitable part of the outfit, such as the jacket, by running alace through the center opening 26.

The lace puller also preferably has a multiple use. More specifically,it preferably has a sharpened or convergent rear end portion 28 thatwill serve as a screwdriver, has a pair of wrench-type. polygonalconcavities 30 and 32 in its periphery to fit different type skibindings for adjusting the bindings, and has a bottle opener 34 alongits upper edge.

It will be realized that the device is very simple in nature. In fact,its simplicity is one of its main attributes, when considering thefunction it performs. It can be formed inexpensively from sheet metalstock stamping.

This invention is intended to be limited only by the scope of theappended claims, and the reasonably equivalent structures to thosedefined therein.

I claim:

1. A boot lace puller comprising: a generally fiat, one piece, integralplate stamping having an elongated body portion with upper and loweredges; said body portion having a hooking, lace-engaging tang extendingon one end thereof generally tranverse to the long dimension of saidbody, and generally toward said lower edge; an arcuateindex-finger-receiving-cavity rearwardly of said tang along said upperedge of said body; a palm engaging surface along said upper edge betweensaid index-finger-receivingcavity and the body end opposite said oneend; and at least two arcuate, finger receiving cavities in said loweredge adjacent said opposite end.

2. A boot lace puller comprising: a generally fiat, one piece, integralplate stamping having an elongated body portion with upper and lowerelongated edges; said body portion having a booking, lace-engaging tangextending on one end thereof generally tranverse to the long dimensionof said body and toward said lower elongated edge; said stamping havinga convex nose on said one end adjacent said tang for providing pryingleverage; an arcuate index-finger-receiving-cavity along the upperelongated edge of said body; a palm engaging surface along said oppositeside of the body end opposite said one end; at least two arcuate, fingerreceiving cavities on said one side adjacent said opposite end; andpolygonal ski binding adjusting cavities in the periphery of said body.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS D. 45,815 5/1914Marion 7-17 241,893 5/1881 Thayer 7-17 2,877,045 3/1959 Payne 294-263,027,057 3/1962 Johns 223113 JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

G. H. KRIZMANICH, Assistant Examiner.

1. A BOOT LACE PULLER COMPRISING: A GENERALLY FLAT, ONE PIECE, INTEGRALPLATE STAMPING HAVING AN ELONGATED BODY PORTION WITH UPPER AND LOWEREDGES; SAID BODY PORTION HAVING A HOOKING, LACE-ENGAGING TANG EXTENDINGON ONE END THEREOF GENERALLY TRANSVERSE TO THE LONG DIMENSION OF SAIDBODY, AND GENERALLY TOWARD SAID LOWER EDGE; AN ARCUATEINDEX-FINGER-RECEIVING-CAVITY REARWARDLY OF SAID TANG ALONG SAID UPPEREDGE OF SAID BODY; A PALM ENGAGING SURFACE ALONG SAID UPPER EDGE BETWEENSAID INDEX-FINGER-RECEIVINGCAVITY AND THE BODY END OPPOSITE SAID ONEEND; AND AT LEAST TWO ARCUATE, FINGER RECEIVING CAVITIES IN SAID LOWEREDGE ADJACENT SAID OPPOSITE END.